All Eyes On Us - A Story About a Studious Goth Girl with Marvelous Eyes, an Avid Reader, and an Unexpected Romance by Kade Othala
This story involves members of the vtuber agency known as Hololive, more specifically, its English branch. the members will be listed below...
• Amelia Watson - Time Traveler/Detective, has stolen a pocket watch from a Warden of Time and brought together a band of mythical beings from across time and space.
• Nanashi Mumei - Guardian of Civilization, has watched over humanity to prevent disasters (and sometimes cause them).
• Fuwawa and Mococo Abyssgard - twin hellhound guard dogs that go by FUWAMOCO, had been punished by humanity for having a bit too much fun (causing destruction). Escaped imprisonment with a group of friends.
• Nerissa Ravencroft - A demon of sound, her singing caused the world to go mad and in turn has been punished by the gods by breaking off part of her right horn, which had greatly reduced her power, and was sent to a specially made prison, only for her to break out with a group of friends.
• Koseki Bijou - A living gemstone made of human emotions, imprisoned for causing everyone who ends up near or around her to go mad, only to meet and escape with a group of people from the same cell as her. She had grown to be friends with this group.
• Shiori Novella - A goth girl who was given a powerful artifact that grants her access to infinite knowledge - a bookmark. The one who gave this to her was a lover who had tragically died in her arms. The presence of this object and the effects it had caused half of her hair to go from a deep black to a stark white. She had been imprisoned by the gods for having such object, but staged an escape with four friends from the same cell as her.
• Samsara Jacobs - The lucky (or unlucky) individual that gets themselves locked into a situation involving a strange and beautiful woman, a world previously unseen, a mystical bookmark, and much, much more, also goes by Sam. (First Person Narrator).
Chapter One - A Fateful Encounter With a Peculiar Girl
I was spending my afternoon in a web cafe writing a paper on the first written historical documents and comparing them with ones from this era of human culture when a curious figure sat down at a table across from me. At first I didn't pay much mind, but then I got a good glimpse of her - she was stunning, her eyes glinted like topaz, her hair resembled the Chinese symbol of balance - the ying-yang, and she was writing in a little black book full of aged parchment. The book almost seemed out of place, mostly because every time I look at it, my head started pounding, and because of this, she took notice of me and quickly left the cafe. As she left, I noticed something on the floor, a bookmark, an odd one at that. As soon as I picked it up I began to feel like my head would explode, knowledge of all kinds were flooding my mind, but one thought was atop all of the rest: I needed to find her.
I packed my stuff and headed out to look for this mysterious woman and return whatever this bookmark is to her, but where could I even find her? This city is massive, and the amount of people crowding the streets is nearly immeasurable. Yet somehow I know where to go. I went down a few busy streets, taken a few side streets, stopped and surveyed the area around me, and landed in an alleyway. as soon as I came close to the dumpster, I heard a soft, high-pitched, and panicked voice muttering something like "Oh God I'm so sorry! I promised you I would keep it safe, I promised! But now I've broken it." At this point she started sobbing, and it was time for me to hand it to her.
"Hey, uh, I think this is yours," I said, handing her the bookmark, which startled her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I know it may sound weird, but i somehow knew where you would be - Ack, no, I'm not a stalker, it's just-" she interrupted me by saying "-it's just that the bookmark led you here... tell me, how much do you know?"
This honestly confused me, but I knew the answer. "more than any being on Earth should ever know. I know what I saw when I was born, I know what I'll see before I die, I know what happens between now and then, and I i know that I would save your life in the distant future. I know that you lost someone dear to you, and that you made a promise to hold on to that bookmark. I know where this bookmark came from, too." She looked bewildered by what I said. "Wh-where did it come from?" She asked. "As an Archiver, I have to know."
"A kingdom without a name, lost to time immemorial, deep below the sands of a Middle Eastern nation. The missing Fourth Kingdom of Egypt." She wrote down all that I said, and quickly put the bookmark on that page. "Interesting, I never thought the Fourth Kingdom existed." She turned her gaze downward and asked me another question, one that was more important to her, "when you said you would save my life, what exactly happened in the future that put me in danger?"
This was a hard one to answer, but I tried my best to make it sound less frightening. "A priestess in purple devoted to a god older than the universe goes corrupt and hunts for any artifact of immense power. In a struggle between you and the priestess, you... well, she breaks your mind, stabbing you in the forehead with that very bookmark to use as a siphon. It kills you, and in a fit of rage, I destroy the book that corrupted her.
"I honestly don't know when that will happen," I continued, "but I promise i will protect you, from now to the end of time." She looked at me in awe. "May I ask you your name?" I was quite nervous about answering her at first, but then the situation at hand snapped me out of it. "I'm Sam, I work part-time at my college library."
I felt a rush of heat go over my face as I locked eyes with this woman. Her eyes were warm, studious, and a tad creepy, but it was a kind of creepy that made me feel like I'd fall in love with her. I quickly pushed that thought out of my head as it was too early to be thinking that. "Uhm, r-right. So, I take it that your name is Shiori Novella and that you are a..."
"A criminal, yes, but at this point you're also a criminal like me, committing an act that the gods do not allow - the gathering of infinite knowledge. We need to move, Sam. Someone's looking this way." I was about to turn my head to look across the street, but Shiori stopped me almost immediately.
"Don't look in her direction, it'll only make us more suspicious." I didn't really understand that logic because our hair color made us stand out like a sore thumb. "Before you say it, I am aware about our hair being a dead giveaway." Can she read my thoughts or something?!
She grabbed my hand as soon as I started falling behind which made me blush a bit. Looking at her face as she grabbed my hand revealed a mystery I feel the need to uncover. Does she like me? Why is she blushing too? Before I knew it she sat us down at a table in an outdoor seafood restaurant, still holding my hand.
"I think I bought us some cover," she whispered. "I-I'm a bit nervous about this, but. promise me you won't make fun of me, okay?" I nodded and whispered back, "what do you mean?" She then began to gently brush her thumb against my knuckles. "I want you to be a romantic interest - for the sake of our cover, that is..."
"Sure thing, 'babe.' What do you want to order?" This may have startled her, because she stopped moving her thumb over my knuckles and looked into the distance. Maybe she does like me, I thought. "Babe? You okay?"
"Y-yeah, I'm okay. I'll... I'll have the sushi rolls and some tea. What about you?" That's a good question, what do I want from here? "I think I'll have the teriyaki beef udon bowl with some sake."
With our food ordered and cover secured, I got to learn more about Shiori, and she got to learn more about me. The person that she held dear to her was an old friend/lover, and she never figured out who killed her. She hasn't dated anyone since then, on account that she wants to avenge her friend's death. After two shots of sake Shiori revealed what i had suspected: she does like me, but only due to my situation with her. "Y'know, I didn't want to say it for fear that you'd be scared away, but I like you too."
She then said two simple words that turned my world on its head.
Chapter Two - Drunken Love?
"Kiss me."
"Whuh-?" I was so blindsided by this I nearly dropped my sake glass.
"Kiss. Me." She was adamant about it, leaning in closer as she spoke, but then her serious tone turned somber as she whimpered and said "please." I wasn't quite ready, but at this point, what can you do? I leaned in and felt Shiori's lips touch mine.
This lasted for what felt like eons, but honestly, I wished it lasted longer. The softness of her lips, the smell of her perfume, her gentle sighs as our lips parted before locking again. It was exhilarating, and I was hoping for more. "Hey babe? I don't suppose I could ever go back to my dorm or classes again, right?"
"Unfortunately you cannot. I'm sorry, sweetie, but we have to go elsewhere, and that 'elsewhere' would be my home - your home, too, considering the circumstances." I was quite shocked by this. "Isn't this a bit sudden?" I asked, to which she replied, " No, silly, it isn't like that! I'm talking about a shelter for you. You do want a cute goth girl to take care of you, right?"
"Heh... who am I to argue that?" She smiled. God, that smile is gorgeous, I thought to myself. "Hey Sam?"
"Yeah?"
""That kiss..." she trailed off. "Let's just go home. I'll talk about it when I'm ready. It's getting dark, but we still need to be cautious. Our pesky assailant can see us clear as day."
"What is she, an owl?" She looked at me, and in her silence I understood what she meant to say. "Oh... okay..."
"Oh hi!"
"Who? What? Where?" Glowing yellow eyes. That's the last thing I saw before being engulfed in an inky substance and landing on a pile of papers - with Shiori over me. "Was that...?"
"Yes, that's our assailant. She is the Guardian of Civilization, and she's been tasked with hunting me down and bringing me back to the mystical prison cell i came from. Now she's going to hunt you down as well."
"Are you sure? she seemed rather more curious about me and you than predatory."
"Don't let her deceive you, she's responsible for plagues and mass extinctions throughout history. She will hunt down anything and anyone she deems a threat to civilization and does not take civilian casualties into consideration. Also this position we're in is a bit, uhm..."
"Shiori? What were you going to say about our kiss?" She got up from her awkward position and sat next to me.
"I don't know if it was the alcohol or not, but... but I felt a connection between us. I was curious if you, you know, felt the same?"
I couldn't contain myself and said what my heart desired. "I love you too." As soon as I sat up, she tackled me, pulling me into a tight hug, crying her eyes out. I don't think she's been in love ever since that day, and I think it hit her hard. I gently caressed her hair, telling her it's okay, and this lasted until we fell asleep in each other's arms.
The next morning i woke up to a massive headache. "Ugh, why do I have a migraine?" I felt a slight pressure on my side and heard a faint, feminine, grunt. I looked around with blurred vision at what looked to be a massive, four-story library.
"Wait... was yesterday... real?" I looked to where the feminine grumble and soft breathing came from. "Shiori..." She looked even more breathtaking when asleep.
"Shiorin!! Are you ok- huuuuuuuuh?!"
"A demon...?" Blinking in confusion i got up and nudged Shiori awake. That's when it hit me. "A DEMON?!"
"Woah, woah, calm down! I'm not going to hurt you. Also who are you and why were you sleeping next to Shiorin?"
"I'm Sam, I helped return her bookmark to her, and we got chased down by the Guardian of Civilization. Who are you?"
"Nerissa Ravencroft, Demon of Sound, lover of edgy music. And I think you're leaving something out."
Shiori spoke up about it. "I think they are shy about it, so I'll tell you. We had to find cover in order to escape Mumei, so we acted like we were on a date at a seafood restaurant. After a couple of drinks, something sparked between us. Something I haven't felt in years."
"Is this... a love story?"